An IB Diploma is not awarded on total points alone. A candidate can clear the 24-point threshold and still fail on a condition they did not know existed. The conditions are published, short, and worth reading before the second year rather than after results day.
How the 45 points are built
Six subjects, each graded 1–7, plus up to three points from the core — the Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge, taken together. Six sevens plus three core points is the maximum of 45. Higher level and standard level subjects count equally toward the total.
Every condition has to hold
To be awarded the diploma, all of the following must be true:
- CAS requirements are met.
- At least 24 points in total.
- A grade awarded in every subject, in TOK and in the EE.
- No grade below 2 in any subject.
- No more than two grade 2s, at either level.
- No more than three grades of 3 or below, at either level.
- At least 12 points at higher level. For candidates registered for four HL subjects, the three highest grades count.
- At least 9 points at standard level. A candidate registered for only two SL subjects must earn at least 5 across them.
Read those together and a pattern emerges: the diploma is more sensitive to a single collapsed subject than to a generally modest profile. A candidate on 30 points with a 1 in one subject does not get the diploma; a candidate on 25 with nothing below a 3 does. Where revision time is scarce, it belongs with the weakest subject rather than with the one closest to the next grade boundary.
Two sessions a year, and a limit of three
Assessment runs in May and November. A diploma candidate has a maximum of three examination sessions in which to obtain the diploma, and exams can be retaken at most twice. The three sessions are either anticipated, then diploma, then retake, or diploma followed by two retakes.
"Anticipated" is the label for an exam sat in the first year — possible where a school delivers an SL course in one year — because students are not formally diploma candidates until their second year. Sitting a subject early uses up one of the three sessions, which is the trade-off to weigh.
Your school holds the timetable
The May 2027 written papers run from late April into mid-May. Exact per-subject dates and times depend on the exam zone your school is allocated: zones have different local start times for the morning and afternoon sessions, and a school's zone does not change between sessions. Ask the diploma coordinator for the timetable for your zone rather than working from a schedule found online.